Krishna temple also known as Balakrishna temple was built by the King Krishnadevaraya as a mark of victory over the Gajapathi king Prataparudra of Odisha reclaiming Udayagiri. The beautiful granite idol of Balakrishna was brought from Udayagiri. The original idol of Balakrishna is now in a museum in Chennai.
The temple is famous for its elegant architectural designs and exquisite carvings. Stories of puranas were carved on the walls of the temple and its main gopura. The temple has two gopuras: the main gopura on the east and and another on the west. The inner walls of the main gopura has carvings of all ten avatars of Vishnu starting with Matsya at the bottom and scenes from the Ramayana and the Krishna Leela. On the outer side of the gopura, you can find sculptures of warriors depicting battle of Odisha and Balakrishna above them. The temple also has a huge stone hundi (or offering box).
In front of the Krishna temple is a long market street with collonaded marketplace.
The road between this market and Krishna temple allowed chariots to transport goods to and from the market. The market also hosted ceremonial functions and festive celebrations. Next to this market is a large pushkarani (tank), a public utility-stepped water tank. There is even a water channel, bringing water from the aqueduct that brought water from the river to the city!
It is said that the famous travelers from the Middle East and Europe were fond of this place and visited here multiple times during the Vijayanagara empire.
South of the Krishna temple are two adjacent shrines, one containing the largest monolithic Shiva linga and the other with the largest monolithic Lakshmi Narasimha.